Writing at the Gatestone Institute site, Raymond Ibrahim details the continuing efforts of Hizbullah and its Iranian paymasters, as well as al Qaeda, to strike at the United States through our porous border using a combination of missionary work and alliance with the drug cartels:

“Mexican authorities have rolled up a Hezbollah network being built in Tijuana, right across the border from Texas and closer to American homes than the terrorist hideouts in the Bekaa Valley are to Israel. Its goal, according to a Kuwaiti newspaper that reported on the investigation: to strike targets in Israel and the West. Over the years, Hezbollah—rich with Iranian oil money and narcocash—has generated revenue by cozying up with Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs and people into the U.S. In this, it has shadowed the terrorist-sponsoring regime in Tehran, which has been forging close ties with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who in turn supports the narcoterrorist organization FARC, which wreaks all kinds of havoc throughout the region.”

Another 2010 article appearing in the Washington Times asserts that, “with fresh evidence of Hezbollah activity just south of the border [in Mexico], and numerous reports of Muslims from various countries posing as Mexicans and crossing into the United States from Mexico, our porous southern border is a national security nightmare waiting to happen.” This is in keeping with a recent study done by Georgetown University, which revealed that the number of immigrants from Lebanon and Syria living in Mexico exceeds 200,000. Syria, along with Iran, is one of Hezbollah’s strongest financial and political supporters, and Lebanon is the immigrants’ country of origin.

A jihadist cell in Mexico was recently found to have a weapons cache of 100 M-16 assault rifles, 100 AR-15 rifles, 2,500 hand grenades, C4 explosives and antitank munitions. The weapons, it turned out, had been smuggled by Muslims from Iraq. According to this report, “obvious concerns have arisen concerning Hezbollah’s presence in Mexico and possible ties to Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTO’s) operating along the U.S.—Mexico border.”

And it’s not just arms-smuggling and infiltration of Arab jihadis that we need to worry about; jihadist organizations are working hard to covert disaffected Mexicans to Salafist Islam:

Long a bastion of Catholicism, southern Mexico is quickly turning into a battleground for soul-savers. Islam, too, is gaining a foothold and the indigenous Mayans are converting by the hundreds. The Mexican government is worried about a culture clash in their own backyard… Muslim women in headscarves have become a common sight….

The Maya regions, particularly Yucatan, have long been a problem for Mexico City. An uprising there lasted from 1847-1901. A century later, will they face an intifada of their own?

Securing the border, as far as is practical, is essential. That doesn’t mean seal it, which would be impossible, but we need far better control over who crosses and why. And intelligence cooperation with the Mexicans, already underway against the cartels, needs to be expanded against the jihadists who seek to exploit our southern neighbor’s problems to get at us.